The present invention relates to occupant restraint systems, such as an air bag and a pretensioner of a seat belt, mounted in a vehicle and, more particularly, an occupant restraint system and a method for operating the same for precluding an occupant restraint device from being improperly operated due to adverse effects caused by noises.
It has been a usual practice for an occupant restraint system of a vehicle to have an impact detector section, which detects impact, and a control section which controls the actuation of an occupant restraint device, with the impact detector section and the control section being mechanically separate from one another and electrically connected to one another by means of a communication line. When the impact detector section detects an impact on the vehicle and discriminates a need for operating the occupant restraint device, the impact detector section transmits an actuation demand signal to the control section via the communication line. Upon receipt of the actuation demand signal, the control section instantaneously deploys the occupant restraint device for thereby restraining the occupant in a safe condition.
During such operation, the presence of the communication line connected between the impact detector section and the control section is apt to cause an adverse effect on a proper operation of the restraint device owing to noise in the communication line. One technology for addressing such an issue is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 9-240419 (which will be hereinafter referred to as a related art).
The technology disclosed in the above Publication produces communication signals at different output frequencies in an impact detector section while classifying a process, through which restraint judgment is implemented upon discriminating impact, into a plurality of stages which are allocated with particular output frequencies, respectively. Then, the impact detector section transmits output signals to the control section at the relevant frequencies associated with respective judgment stages. The control section discriminates the frequencies of the received signals and deploys the occupant restraint device when the signals are received from the impact detector section in a predetermined sequence.
However, upon receipt of the actuation signal, for the occupant restraint device, delivered from the impact detector section, although it is desirable for the control section to instantaneously allow the occupant restraint device to be deployed, the control section of the related art must receive the output signals from the impact detector section for a prolonged period of time in order to appropriately discriminate the output frequencies of the received signals from one another. To preclude the adverse effect caused by temporary variation in the output frequencies of the received noisy signals, it is required for the control section to receive the signals from the impact detector section for a further prolonged period of time.
The present invention has been made with a view to addressing the above issue and has an object of the present invention to provide an occupant restraint system and a method for operating the same which is able to preclude the system from being adversely affected by noise while enabling an occupant restraint device to be instantaneously deployed upon receipt of a restraint actuation signal from an impact detector unit.
In accordance with one aspect, the present invention provides an occupant restraint system for a vehicle having an occupant restraint device to permit the occupant restraint device to be deployed for restraining the occupant in the vehicle when impact, exerted to the vehicle, is detected, said system comprising: an impact detector unit including an impact sensor detecting impact exerted to a vehicle to provide a sensory output representative of an impact status, said impact detector unit being responsive to the impact status for providing at least two discriminating factors based on which at least two predetermined transition processes are programmed, to cause said occupant restraint device to be deployed, and producing information representing an ON/OFF state (or xe2x80x9cenabled/disabled statexe2x80x9d) of the discriminating factors involving transition process information of the transition processes; and a control unit outputting an actuation signal to said occupant restraint device when there is a confirmed match between a variation in said information, representing said ON/OFF state, received from said impact detector unit, andxe2x80x94the transition process information.
In accordance with another aspect, the present invention provides an occupant restraint system for a vehicle having an occupant restraint device to permit the occupant restraint device to be deployed for restraining the occupant in the vehicle when impact, exerted to the vehicle, is detected, said system comprising: an impact detector unit including at least two impact sensors detecting impact exerted to a vehicle to provide sensory outputs representative of impact status, said impact detector unit being responsive the impact status for providing at least two discriminating factors based on which at least two predetermined transition processes are programmed, to cause said occupant restraint device to be deployed, and producing information representing ON/OFF state of said discriminating factors involving transition process information representing said transition processes; and a control unit outputting an actuation signal to said occupant restraint device when there is a confirmed match between a variation in said information representing said ON/OFF state, received from said impact detector unit, and said transition process information.
In other words, the present invention provides an occupant restraint system for a vehicle having an occupant restraint device to permit the occupant restraint device to be deployed for restraining the occupant in the vehicle when impact, exerted to the vehicle, is detected, said system comprising: impact detecting means detecting impact exerted to a vehicle to provide a sensory output representative of an impact status, said impact detecting means being responsive the impact status for providing at least two discriminating factors based on which at least two predetermined transition processes are programmed, to cause said occupant restraint device to be deployed, and producing information representing an ON/OFF state of the discriminating factors involving transition process information of the transition processes; and control means outputting an actuation signal to said occupant restraint device when there is a confirmed match between a variation in the information representing said ON/OFF state, received from impact detecting means, and the transition process information.
In still other words, the present invention provides an occupant restraint system for a vehicle having an occupant restraint device to permit the occupant restraint device to be deployed for restraining the occupant in the vehicle when impact, exerted to the vehicle, is detected, said system comprising: impact detecting means including at least two impact sensors detecting impact exerted to a vehicle to provide sensory outputs representative of impact status, said impact detecting means being responsive to the impact status for providing at least two discriminating factors based on which at least two predetermined transition processes are programmed, to cause said occupant restraint device to be deployed, and producing information representing an ON/OFF state of the discriminating factors involving transition process information of the transition processes; and control means outputting an actuation signal to said occupant restraint device when there is a match between a variation in said information representing said ON/OFF state, received from said impact detecting means, and the transition process information.
In accordance with still another aspect, the present invention includes a method for operating an occupant restraint system for a vehicle having an occupant restraint device to permit the occupant restraint device to be deployed for restraining the occupant in the vehicle when impact, exerted to the vehicle, is detected, said method comprising: detecting impact exerted to a vehicle to provide a sensory output representative of an impact status; preparing at least two discriminating factors based on which of at least two predetermined transition processes are determined to cause said occupant restraint device to be deployed; producing information representing an ON/OFF state of the discriminating factors involving transition process information of the transition processes; and outputting an actuation signal to said occupant restraint device when there is a confirmed match between a variation in said information representing said ON/OFF state and said transition process information.
In accordance with yet another aspect, the present invention includes a method for operating an occupant restraint system for a vehicle having an occupant restraint device to permit the occupant restraint device to be deployed for restraining the occupant in the vehicle when impact, exerted to the vehicle, is detected, said method comprising: detecting impact exerted to a vehicle using at least two impact sensors to provide sensory outputs representative of impact status; preparing at least two discriminating factors based on which at least two predetermined transition processes are programmed to cause said occupant restraint device to be deployed; producing information representing an ON/OFF state of the discriminating factors involving transition process information of the transition processes; and outputting an actuation signal to said occupant restraint device when there is a confirmed match between a variation in said information representing said ON/OFF state and said transition process information.